At the Sept. 11 RBDA meeting, Bryan Largay, Conservation
Director for the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County will
launch the public engagement process for planning
recreational and educational access to the CEMEX
Redwoods property. He will describe how the Land Trust
will be gathering public input, and what the Land Trust
and its conservation partners in the 8,532-acre property
will do with information.
Bryan says that he expects it will take about 2 years to
formulate the plan and obtain any easements needed to
open to the public parts of the property, which
stretches from Highway One to Empire Grade.

Bryan will talk about the many opportunities provided by
the property, and how the planning process will strive
to develop a plan that provides access while protecting
natural resources but at the same time is financially
sound. Timber harvesting on part of the property, which
has been logged many times by its various owners through
the years, will continue. We are assured by Sempervirens
that it will be done in an environmentally sound manner.
Big Creek Lumber has done the logging for many years and
is expected to continue. The protection of the CEMEX
Redwoods property (a name which we are very happy to say
will definitely change) is a large scale and complex
project. The four Conservation Partners involved with
the project, and their areas of responsibility are as
follows:

•
The Land Trust of Santa Cruz County is the lead on the
Public Access Plan.•
Save the Redwoods League is the lead on the
Conservation Plan.• The
Peninsula Open Space Trust is the lead on the
Management Plan.• The
Sempervirens Fund is the lead on the Timber Harvest
Plan. In addition:• The
Peninsula Open Space Trust and Sempervirens Fund own
the property.• The
Save the Redwoods League will hold the Conservation
Easement.• The
Land Trust will lead implementation of public access.

Every Home a Castle...or a Nuisance?

The area around the intersections of Pine Flat and
Bonny Doon roads may become pretty busy on dry season
weekends if all the property owners who are seeking or
may seek event permits receive them.

Beauregard Vineyards’ (10 Pine Flat Rd.) application for
various events and new uses has been much discussed in
meetings and in these pages. Some of the events held
there have been in violation of the property’s use
permit, obtained by its former owner, Bonny Doon
Vineyards. It was only after neighbors pressured the
County into issuing a red tag that the Beauregards
sought a new, expanded permit.

Teresa Sabankaya, owner of the locally famed “castle”
house at 4286 Bonny Doon Rd., about 1/5 of a mile from
Beauregard Vineyards, has applied to rent out her
property for outdoor weddings of up to 100 guests 12
times a year between May and October, and unlimited
smaller functions with up to 10 guests at a time.

Following what seems to be a Bonny Doon tradition of
asking forgiveness rather than permission, Sabankaya,
too, has had more than a dozen unpermitted weddings
there already. Again, after complaints from neighbors,
the County issued a red tag, so Sabankaya applied for a
permit. Recognizing that canceling the remaining 5
weddings scheduled through October would be a hardship
for the betrothed couples and their guests who have made
plans far in advance, the Planning Dept. is allowing the
events to take place, but is considering putting limits
on the hours and amplified music.

A bit down the road from the winery is Redwood Meadows
Ranch. In 1998, RMR’s developer, Bill Cunningham,
applied for a permit to hold events for up to 250 people
on his 20-acre agricultural reserve parcel on the ranch.
He planned to plant grapes and start a winery. The scale
of the proposal, in particular the large events, was
opposed by his RMR neighbors and the RBDA. Eventually
Cunningham received permission to hold winery-related
events for no more than 49 people at a time. Nothing was
ever built or planted, the permit lapsed, and the
agricultural parcel has been for sale for several years.
It is possible that Cunningham or a new owner could try
to re-open the permit, or apply for even larger events.

Finally, just a few feet from the entrance to RMR, is
the former Vigné Farms, now Bonny Doon Equestrian Park,
near the intersection of Bonny Doon Rd. and Smith Grade,
which is under a long-term lease to Jim Beauregard. On
that site in recent years there have been large events
like riding competitions and the Bonny Doon Art &
Wine Festival. Except for this summer’s A&W
festival, none of the events has been permitted.

Your RBDA Board is highly concerned about the impacts of
so many possible events, especially on weekends, in such
a concentrated area, especially events that involve
alcohol. We feel that, certainly cumulatively, they
provide the potential for a lot more traffic and noise,
could jeopardize public safety and are not in keeping
with the residential, rural nature of Bonny Doon.

After much discussion, we have formulated a position
that we are opposed to any permits for any site that is
not already specifically licensed to host commercial
events, and marketed to people who aren’t residents of
Bonny Doon. While we appreciate that property in Bonny
Doon is expensive and it is not unreasonable for someone
to want or need to exploit the economic value of their
house and land, sometimes that effort unfairly reduces
the livability and property values of their neighbors,
creates increased traffic on Bonny Doon’s narrow, curvy
roads, and deteriorates the quality of life in our quiet
mountain community.

For those reasons we are opposed to the Castle House
application, which is now undergoing Planning Dept.
review. Wanda Williams, Planning Dept. Assistant
Director, told us that they will carefully look at a
number of issues, including traffic, safety, parking,
noise, waste disposal, and American Disabilities Act
compliance, and the cumulative impacts in relation to
the other venues within a mile.

The application must be approved at a Zoning
Administrator public hearing, and also get a Coastal
Permit. The ZA can decide to approve the application in
full, or limit its scope and apply certain conditions to
it, like prohibiting amplified music. The ZA’s decision
can be appealed to the Planning Commission and the
Coastal Commission.

Santa Cruz Water Sources Drying Up as Desalination
Plan Withers

With the Santa Cruz Mayor and City Manager issuing a
statement on Aug. 20 calling for postponement of the
pursuit of desalinated water, prospects for increasing
the City’s water supply look grim.

Bad news for City water customers (and those of the
Soquel Creek Water District, the City’s partner in
desal) is good news for Bonny Dooners opposed to UCSC’s
massive development plan for its North Campus. Approval
of the City and UCSC’s applications to extend the City
water district to the Local Agency Formation Commission
to include the North Campus has been held up by the
rejection of the Environmental Impact Report for the
project by the State 6th District Court of Appeals.
During the year or so it took the suit over the EIR to
wind its way through the legal system, LAFCO
commissioners were debating the effects on the City’s
water supply, and how to ensure that there would be
enough water for all the City’s customers.

As the LAFCO commissioners wrangled over what conditions
to impose on possible approval, the City’s (and
undoubtedly, the university’s) hope was that the
proposed desalination plant would be approved. But
opponents of the plant garnered enough signatures to
place a measure on the ballot, approved by a 72%
majority, to require that the desal plant’s construction
would have to be approved by the voters. When the draft
EIR was published this summer, it caused such an
outpouring of objections that the plant’s backers were
stunned, despite the crushing vote against desal last
November. Perhaps the desal plant’s proponents are
worried about their re-election prospects?

It is also perhaps not coincidental that longtime City
Water Director Bill Kocher announced in early August
that he would retire in September. He undoubtedly has
been frustrated by his failure to enlarge the City’s
water supply, despite numerous efforts over 27 years.

In fact, the City is now facing a shrinking, rather than
growing, water supply, as it must agree to take as much
as 800 million gallons a year less (about 25% of its
annual supply) from the San Lorenzo River and North
Coast streams in order to help restore Coho salmon and
steelhead habitat, which is required by the federal
Endangered Species Act.

Referring to the supply cutback, Kocher told the Santa
Cruz Sentinel, “I don’t think we’ve done a good job
describing what’s to come. We were so focused on the
solution that we didn’t get people to understand the
gravity of the problem.”

In fact, Kocher and the City have used delaying tactics
for years to forestall the cuts they knew were coming,
and even disingenuously downplayed the impact. No wonder
that people couldn’t “understand the gravity of the
problem.”

The pique of the National Marine Fisheries Service
negotiators at this double-dealing game was evident in
the comments submitted in response to the draft EIR for
the desal plant, “Unfortunately the Alternatives
Analysis does not appear to thoroughly evaluate
alternatives recommended by National Marine Fisheries
Service and California Department of Fish and Wildlife
through more than 10 years of technical assistance
provided to the City.”

With the desal plant almost certainly shelved for now,
and the 25% supply cutback a virtual certainty, the
LAFCO commissioners will be hard put to justify
approving 100 to 150 million gallons a year for UCSC’s
North Campus expansion.

Ironically, Mayor Hilary Bryant and City Manager Martin
Bernal said in their Aug. 20 statement that they will
ask the City Council to support a “community involvement
plan” to get water customers’ ideas for how to conserve
water and cut usage. It was a citizen group, Santa Cruz
Desal Alternatives, that vigorously opposed the very
expensive and energy intensive desal plan and proposed
several ways that water conservation could be
accomplished. Perhaps the City should simply ask Desal
Alternatives to spearhead the “community involvement
plan,” since they have been working on just that for
more than 2 years.

Despite the City government leaders backing off from
pursuit of the desal plant, apparently they still want
to complete the final EIR, at a cost projected to be in
the hundreds of thousands of dollars. This is an example
of the “sunk cost fallacy,” the well-studied syndrome
where people who have already spent money on something
irrationally continue to throw good money after bad. The
City and the Soquel water district have already poured
$15 million into the desal effort. Time for some new
leadership at City Hall?

Horrible Idea, Resurrected

In an ominous note for Bonny Dooners, well regarded (at
least until now) local geologist Gerald Weber concluded
7 pages of comments on the desal plant draft EIR with
the statement, “How can the dEIR be accepted as adequate
when there is essentially no detailed study and
assessment of the ground water potential along the north
coast?” Back in the mid-90s City Water Director Bill
Kocher advocated a plan, based on Weber’s own studies,
to drill test wells near the bottom of Back Ranch Rd. to
augment the city water supply. Bonny Dooners who feared
their water would be sucked off by massive City wells
hired Weber to help oppose the plan, because he had
subsequently decided that his original studies were
flawed. In fact, his detailed testimony at a City Water
Commission hearing was the principal reason the plan was
dropped. Now, it appears he is trying to resurrect it.
The project was killed in March 1997, but our words in
the January 1997 Highlander “...this Freddy Krueger of a
project won’t stay dead” may come back to haunt us. Who
should be believed, the Gerry Weber of 1996, 1997, or
2013? Scary.
Beauregard Vineyards Expansion Application Still
Incomplete

The Santa Cruz County Planning Dept. has granted
Beauregard Vineyards a 60- day extension, to Oct. 21, to
supply the information it has requested in order to
begin processing and reviewing its permit expansion
application.

The Beauregards are asking to increase the quantity of
wine to be produced, change the use of some of the
property from commercial to residential use, and expand
the number and size of commercial events allowed on the
property. The application was submitted on May 22.
The RBDA Board has discussed the matter extensively over
the past few months. Discussion has revolved around
neighborhood impacts, commercialization precedents,
environmental protection, and adherence to the letter of
the law. We acknowledge the community-building aspects
residents have enjoyed by attending various events. From
experience the Board has learned to wait and see what an
application to the County actually contains; otherwise
the Board ends up only relying on the applicant’s
representations as well as “Dooner Rumor” rather than
the specifics the County will act on.

It is appropriate to say that there are significant
concerns that, if addressed in the completed application
in an unsatisfactory or inadequate manner, would lead
the Board to take a clear and public negative position
regarding the application. The Board made its
displeasure with plans to rent out the winery for
weddings and similar events known to the Beauregards,
and those plans were subsequently dropped from their
application. It is hardly uncommon for Bonny Dooners to
operate under the “ask for forgiveness rather than
permission” clause when it comes to application for
permits, whether for commercial operations or for
residential construction projects. Due to budget
restrictions Santa Cruz County is not in a position to
actively enforce its own zoning and permitting rules. To
be clear, for many Dooners this impatient or indifferent
approach to regulation has resulted in residents being
forced to “play cop” if unhappy with their neighbors’
actions. It is dishonest to distinguish between the
Beauregards’ illicit commercial operations and the
unauthorized cutting of timber or grading of one’s own
property, or any of the myriad ways in which many Bonny
Doon residents break the rules.

Public safety, protection of our watersheds and overall
environment, and support of the overall good of the
Bonny Doon community and our rural lifestyle are the
fundamental concerns of the RBDA Board and our
membership. Reasonable and judicious interpretation of
those concerns and how the actions of our residents may
impact those concerns is a real and sometimes complex
challenge for not only the Board, but the entire
community.

Photo by
Ted Benhari

Rail Trail Grant Application Derailed

The Santa Cruz Regional Transportation Commission’s
application for a grant to help fund the northern
portion of the “Rail Trail,” from Davenport to the Santa
Cruz Wharf, has been turned down.

The Land Trust of Santa Cruz County and the federal
Bureau of Land Management partnered with the Santa Cruz
Regional Transportation Commission to seek a $21 million
grant from Federal Lands Access Program to build out the
trail, officially designed the Monterey Bay Sanctuary
Scenic Trail Network/rail trail. The 15-mile northern
portion of the trail was selected because the ownership
of the various properties the trail will pass through is
relatively concentrated in the hands of conservation
groups, government entities and other large landowners,
and portions of the trail, like the paved path from
Santa Cruz to Wilder Ranch, are already in place.

The applicants had been hopeful that the grant proposal
would be successful because it would provide access to
the California Coastal National Monument and would,
according to the grant application, “provide active
transportation, recreation and eco-tourism – all goals
that the grant program emphasizes.” The proposal, like
the trail, had the active support of Congressman Sam
Farr. In addition, the Land Trust had agreed to
contribute $2.8 million in matching funds to the
project.

“The good news is that they did not program, on the
short list, all the funds available so we have another
shot next year or the following, depending on when they
decide to accept applications,” says Cory Caletti,
Senior Transportation Planner at the Regional
Transportation Commission.

RBDA Board Actions - August 8,
2013

• Write a letter to the Planning
Dept. opposing the granting of a permit to Teresa
Sabankaya to rent her property at 4286 Bonny Doon Road
for weddings and other private events. Unanimously
approved.

• Coordinate with Bonny Doon
Ecological Reserve Docent Coordinator Val Haley on an
article and letter to the Santa Cruz Sentinel on the
“Moon Rocks” trespassers’ trial and the Sentinel’s
coverage. Unanimously approved.

• Appoint Marty Demare liaison to the
Davenport/North Coast Association to help pressure the
County to resolve the ownership of Davenport water
rights. Unanimously approved.

Shark's
Tooth Beach - photo by Ted Benhari

Support the RBDA by renewing your membership now: all
1-year memberships expired on January 31st.

Ideas
for RBDA Meeting Topics

We are always open to suggestions for interesting
programs and speakers at our bimonthly (except July)
RBDA public meetings.What are you interested in? Local flora and fauna,
gardening, environmental and political issues, Bonny
Doon history or geology, public safety?What were some of your favorite speakers or
presentations at past RBDA meetings?Were there any that you would like us to repeat?Please email us with your ideas and comments at board@rbda.us.

Bonny Doon's
voice in preserving our special quality of
life,
The Highlander is mailed free to Bonny Doon
residents prior to the
RBDA General Meetings, which are usually
held on second Wednesdays of
January, March, May, July, September and
November.
We encourage you to participate.

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mail correspondence to the Highlander Editor
at the above address,
or by email, below.